The JPII/CPA Knights put on an offensive clinic Monday night against Brentwood Academy/FRA/Lipscomb Academy, mercy-ruling the Eagles 12-2 at Centennial Sportsplex.
JPII/CPA captain Max Galpin, J.T. Ernst and Dylan Guy all scored a hat trick and Tommy Chunchulov and Brendan Sullivan each found the net as well. Brady Davis and Avery Fields tallied the two goals for the Eagles. Knights goalie Eric Newman faced nine shots against, while Andrew Kaiser for the Eagles was rattled to the tune of 51 shots against.
“We came out with a lot more composure,” Knights coach Justin Clark said. “We were better defensively. Everyone bought in to get the puck out of the zone. Newman was huge in net for us and gave us an opportunity to win. We put a lot of shots on net and got a lot of chances and was able to play the whole roster. Definitely a team win tonight.”
Each club was looking for its win of the season. The Knights pressed early with Andrew Williams and George Ranaudin testing Kaiser. He was sharp, giving his team the chance to get the puck down ice, but the Knights corralled the puck back into the Brentwood zone. Passing between themselves, the Eagles were worn down and an attempt to get five fresh bodies on the ice resulted in a too many men penalty against Brentwood.
The Knights tried to capitalize on the man advantage, as their shooting lanes were blocked, and they aggressively forced the Eagles penalty killers off the puck. Soon after
killing the penalty, it appeared JPII opened the scoring with a puck bar down, but it was waived off. Kaiser continued to keep his team in the game, but eventually Ernst solved him and opened the scoring at 5:19 of the first period. Davis responded a minute and a half later for the Eagles to knot it up 1-1.
JPII soon found itself on a penalty kill for interference from Galpin, but Guy grabbed a shorthanded goal after the Knights cleared the puck down ice directly in front of Kaiser. Using an Eagles defender as a screen on the puck, Guy made it 2-1 with 49 seconds remaining in the first.
The second period made the first seem like a warmup as the Knights scored four times in 14 minutes. Galpin scored twice at even strength, while Ernst grabbed his second goal off an Eagles interference call and Sullivan netted a second power play goal on a tripping penalty committed by Brock Powell. BA/FRA/LA only registered two shots on net during the period with no goals.
“We came out with a lot more intensity and a lot more speed,” Galpin said. “Played aggressive, which was something we really didn’t come out with against MBA. I think we just played the game how we know how to play, and we got a big win for the boys.”
“Max gives one hundred percent every time he is on the ice,” Clark said. “He’s our captain for a reason and it starts with him. He’s the leader of our team and we go with him.”
JPII continued its run-and-gun approach during the third, with Kaiser seeing 14 shots against. Guy and Chunchukov combined for a goal and later Chunchukov tallied a goal to start a running clock. Fields attempted to bring some life to Eagles with an early goal in the third, but Ernst, Chunhkukov and Galpin netted three more goals to force the mercy rule with JPII/CPA making a statement with the 12-2 win.
Brentwood Academy coach Ethan Bureau was pleased with his team’s performance, but stressed that they need to come out in better shape.
“(We just need to) be in shape, hopefully,” Bureau said. “It’s kind of hard to make kids to be in the condition they need to be in when you only practice once a week. We’ll find a way or else it’s going to be a long season. I thought we had a much better performance this week than last against the Outlaws. The guys were much more focused and weren’t shell shocked. We’re a young team and everyone needs to step up.”
The Knights next take the ice on Oct. 15 against the Tennessee Outlaws, while BA/FRA/LA will play Franklin/Hume-Fogg on Oct. 8.
